It said: “As organisations representing responsible operators and professionals in the sector we are concerned that progress in improving resource management in England had already stalled in a number of areas even before the minister’s recent announcement.”

This is a reference to Rogerson’s statement on 6 November spelling out how Defra would be reining back its policy work on waste matters in 2014 due to budget cuts. He called on the industry itself to take more of a role.

The joint letter goes on: “Rather than simply criticise the Government, and recognising the resource constraints in his department, we would like to offer to work closely with Defra to help turn this situation around”.

That was 2018 – the year when China’s ban on most waste material imports really showed how decisions in one country can affect those on the other side of the world, as the UK and others scrambled to find alternative capacity.

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